On the relatively flat path up the mountain, an inconsiderate crunching pebble was kicked onto a drowsy man.
Anke cursed, shifted his position, and without opening his eyes, continued to lean against the tree trunk. The scent of alcohol wafted into Feifei's big nose, and everyone in the rebel army camp knew that Feifei couldn't be happy without alcohol. Upon smelling the aroma, Anke's eyes widened, and even the sleepiness vanished completely.
A stranger's face appeared under his eyelids. The number of people in the rebel camp was quite limited, and someone like Feifei who enjoyed wandering around, had recognized almost everyone by face.
Then followed the sound of a wine bottle shattering on the ground, spilling liquor all over. The stranger was dressed in the Government Army's military uniform, his face pale and his lips trembling. Surely, he was afraid of being discovered, as indicated by such an expression. Xia You at this moment looked exactly like a petty thief caught red-handed at the scene of a theft.
After seeing the contents on the ground more clearly, Feifei's big nose twisted with anger. Wasn't this the precious wine he treasured too much to drink, secretly stashed away?
"Darn you, Government Army, in broad daylight, you dare to come to our camp to steal wine, and even have the audacity to steal from under my nose," Feifei's right hand landed on the face of the wine thief with a smack.
His right hand was indeed astonishingly strong; with one slap, Xia You's face instantly swelled up, and his Physical Strength dropped by 5 points. Xia You didn't dodge or evade, and after taking that slap, a sly look flashed in his eyes. Knowing oneself and the enemy is the key to victory in a hundred battles; that slap had already gauged the approximate strength of the drunkard.
"Not only did you steal my wine, but you also shattered them, you damn Government Army," Feifei turned and was about to run to the hill behind. Anyway, he was going to snitch, and by labeling the other as Government Army, he might even get a double reward.
"Isn't alcohol a contraband?" Xia You, rubbing his cheek, lazily spoke, pulling out another bottle of wine from his bosom. For convenience, Feifei, the drunkard, stored all his illicitly brewed wine in wide-mouthed bottles. Xia You had casually grabbed several when he sneaked into his house.
When Xia You was stealing those bottles, Little Eight had issued a warning; stealing was not permitted.
"There is no concept of theft for contraband; I was merely confiscating it," Xia You said seriously as he walked out of the shabby little cabin, pointing to the blank space on his shoulder indicative of his military rank.
With the speed of an adult man truly trying to catch up, Xia You had no confidence he could stop him before he alarmed Colonel Washington and the others.
Under the dim sunlight, the rye-brewed wine emitted a tempting color.
"You're not going to tell Colonel Washington," Xia You's face was no longer deathly pale, the drama had reached this point, and it was enough; she took several more wide-mouthed bottles from her bosom.
Feifei looked at those bottles of wine, then at Xia You, who looked fragile dressed as a lowly soldier, pondering in his heart.
A Government Army member without any military rank wasn't worth much if handed over, but if Colonel were to discover his alcohol, all the rewards for snitching would be gone.
Coming to this realization, Anke stopped in his tracks, his right hand's knuckles cracking, and he waved his fist, motioning for Xia You to hand over all the stolen wine.
As Feifei slowly closed in, Xia You's hand motion changed, pretending to throw the wine bottle in the opposite direction. As the wine bottle was about to hit the ground with a sound, Feifei, pained, directly lunged for the wine. After smelling it, he took a swig.
Before the alcohol could even spread on his tongue, a severe pain followed from behind.
A boning knife, halfway into his back, caused immense pain to Anke all at once.
Misi's family's knives, never oiled, had become so dull. The resistance after the knife barely penetrated the flesh shocked Xia You's hand, numbing the area around her thumb. The numbing sensation spread to Xia You's arm, making it difficult for her to launch a second round of attacks immediately.
"I'm going to kill you," Feifei flailed his arms wildly, the dark hairs on his right arm all stood on end, ignoring the blood about to gush from his spine, the intense pain completely sent him into a frenzy.
His arm, about as thick as Xia You's waist, choked her neck tightly. Suffocation replaced numbness, and Xia You felt a blankness in her brain, her whole body pressed to the ground.
The opponent's blood and strength were both astonishing, Anke was strangling Xia You's throat to death, completely different from the slapping earlier; Xia You's struggle was insignificant, utterly ineffective, as she could feel her Physical Strength continuously declining.
"Number 0, find a way to escape," Little Eight was the only onlooker at the scene, and for the trouble Xia You had brought on herself, "she" was helpless too. Watching as Xia You's Physical Strength value once again plummeted below 30, if she let this continue, she had only one path left—death.
"Don't give up," the reoccurrence of Low Ability State caused Xia You's brain to lose its normal cognitive functions, and in the moment when her last thread of consciousness was about to vanish, Xia You bit her lips hard, her mouth instantly filled with the sweet and metallic taste of blood.
Among the two entangled shadows on the ground, the Physical Strength value kept dropping. The last value, which Xia You had always overlooked, the anger value, skyrocketed in this life-and-death moment and broke through 100.
As the number 100 appeared, a blood mist filled Xia You's eyes, and her originally weak fingers began to gather strength once again, feeling a surge of hot air in her constricted throat, like an enlightening elixir.
Hands and body infused with inexhaustible strength, Xia You could not control her own consciousness, her hands becoming as heavy as iron, fearlessly crashing towards Anke.
The man's screams were suddenly cut short. Dusk like shedding blood, the sounds of crunching bones like beautiful notes. Xia You was straddling over Anke, pinning him down on the ground with one hand. The sweat that broke out from the struggle wetted his black hair, sticking to Number 0's cheek.
Her face resembled a Peking opera mask glazed in black and white, dark and light grains adding an indescribable eeriness.
Sand and rocks stuffed the man's mouth, "You slapped me, almost breaking my neck. I am very easy-going, so I'll grant you a quick death." Her voice, hard as metal clashing, Xia You exerted force in her hand, the sharp knife embedded in Anke's spine sank into his body like plunging into tofu, and the sound of his heart shattering in his chest cavity was like firecrackers popping.
All was calm again.
Mouth full of grass and dirt, Anke's last breath choked in his throat, dying quietly on the hilltop. The rebel army on the other side of the hill was completely unaware.
It took a full ten minutes before Xia You released Anke's corpse. The air was no longer fresh, and her feet had just touched the moist earth when Xia You couldn't stop vomiting.
The recent melee and exhaustion had nearly cost her life. Little Eight watched this scene unbelievably; Number 0 actually didn't die.
"Killed a member of the rebel army and gained 60 military merit. Number 0 player, total military merit 70." Xia You's mission log updated with a new entry.
"So the system considers me a 'heart split between two sides,' rewarding military merit for killing NPCs from the rebel army?" After vomiting, Xia You sat down on the spot, and dinner was ruined. After completely emptying her stomach, the discomfort from killing someone grew even deeper within her.
Xia You's eyes returned to their clear and transparent color.
"You, to some extent, are very suited for this game," this was the closest thing to a compliment Little Eight had given Xia You since entering "Military Road."
Survival of the fittest, only the strong survive.
"Thank you for the compliment, I too just discovered how strong my survival instinct is. Thanks to you reminding me that they are just NPCs," Xia You stood up, thoughtfully staring at the anger value that again showed "0" in the shadows.
Who was she at that moment? Was she still Xia You?
With the corners of her mouth lifted, she had already found the answer. She was Number 0. For the next two months, in "Military Road," the person who would strive to survive was Number 0.
(Early in the morning, someone, still bleary-eyed, is getting ready to catch a car for a cross-provincial wedding feast. Glancing at the reader impressions and the tag section, "asking for 1V1." My hand drawing eyeliner shook with no dignity, suddenly teary-eyed with black tears. More excited than the person getting married, what's this, after writing forty thousand words, still not that thing. Stay calm, beautiful eyeliner will come, reader tags will too, 1V1? Isn't that obvious, I'm such a traditional person. Wiping away the black tears, quietly lining my eyes, silently leaving that tag for the child who asked for it.)